


Take Me Down Easy

by kiite



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Injury, World of Ruin, no happy ending here :-(
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:00:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25047277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiite/pseuds/kiite
Summary: Prompto makes some calls.
Relationships: Prompto Argentum & Ignis Scientia
Comments: 6
Kudos: 37





	Take Me Down Easy

Pressed against the splintering wall of a long-abandoned shed, Prompto breathed shakily as he tried to make himself small. The sounds of demons roaming outside were growing slowly closer, as unsettling as always. Prompto had the feeling that they knew exactly where he was— it was only a matter of time, at this point.

Having already sent an SOS to the group he had been working with, Prompto’s only option was to wait. All his years of running daily amounted to nothing when his leg had been torn to shit by a hobgoblin he’d somehow missed. Now, he was the worst thing he could possibly be— a sitting duck. One that was out of bullets. 

He looked down at his gun, useless in his hands. It wasn’t his beloved Quicksilver; no, that was locked away in the Armiger, along with a seemingly endless supply of ammo. Five years ago, when the world was alright— well, comparably— Prompto never would have pictured himself hurting for bullets. Now, he wished he had just one, to beat the demons to the punch. 

Tossing the useless weapon across the floor, Prompto grabbed his phone once more. He had come to terms with the fact that help wouldn’t come for him this time around; he was too far, the demons were too close, and nothing could be done. It would take backup at least half an hour to reach him from the camp, and that was time that Prompto simply didn’t have. If anything, the SOS was more so they could find his body, if there would be anything left to find. 

Prompto had always been indecisive by nature; he would always shrug when asked what he wanted for dinner, he could never commit to an outfit without ample deliberation. And now, he was presented with deciding how to spend his final moments. Briefly, his finger hovered over the icon for King’s Knight, before he moved it away. The servers had long since been shut down, but he hadn’t found it in him to delete the app off his phone. Another tragic casualty of the apocalypse, he supposed.

Instead, he opened his contacts and scrolled until he spotted Gladio’s name. Tapping it once, Prompto held his breath as it rang, not exactly sure what he would say when his friend picked up. Gladio saved him the trouble by not answering, and as Prompto was directed to his voicemail, he took a deep breath. 

“Uh, hey, big guy,” Prompto said, trying for casual but painfully aware of how forced it sounded. The throbbing in his leg _really_ wasn’t helping. “Soooo, I know it’s been a while since we last saw each other— I’ve been killing demons, you’ve been off the grid, the usual. I just wanted to say that I, uh… I really miss you. I hope everything’s going good for you, man.” He paused, wanting to say so much more, but not finding the words.

“Don’t bother calling back, by the way, when you get this. I’m, like, pretty sure I’m not gonna be taking any calls in the future. On account of being kinda… not alive. It’s all up in the air right now, though, so if I somehow don’t die, just ignore this part,” Prompto rambled awkwardly. He found a strange comfort in talking to no one, saying whatever came to his mind. Gladio probably wouldn’t feel the same way, if he ever looked at his phone again. “I’m gonna go, I guess. See ya, Gladdy.” 

The shed lapsed back into silence as Prompto ended the call, broken only by the occasional growl or screech of a demon as they continued their approach. Well, that was one thing checked off his list. Returning to his contacts, he scrolled a bit further until he landed on Ignis’ number. 

Prompto couldn’t say for sure if he actually wanted Ignis to pick up or not. It would be so easy to leave him a voicemail as well, but part of Prompto really didn’t want to spend his final moments alone. As he reached the third ring, though, Prompto remembered that the Six didn’t really seem to care about what he wanted.

_“Prompto? Is that you?”_

Prompto nearly jumped as Ignis’ voice floated up from the speaker. He hadn’t even noticed the other man had picked up. “The one and only!” Prompto said, grinning despite his circumstance. “Hope I didn’t interrupt anything, Igs— I know your time is precious.” 

There was a momentary pause, accompanied by a bit of rustling. _“Nonsense, Prompto. I always have time for you,”_ Ignis said, and Prompto was overwhelmed with too many feelings at once to properly process them all. _“How are you doing?”_

Gazing out the window at the eternally darkened sky, Prompto bit his lip. He shifted his gaze down to his mangled leg, then to his empty gun, and finally to the door, secured by a shitty lock and looking quite breakable. “I’m fine. You?”

_“That’s good to hear. I’m doing quite alright, myself. Helping out in Lestallum has given me a sense of purpose I think I truly needed. But enough about me; you need something, I presume?”_

“You know me, always asking for favors,” Prompto laughed, pulling his good knee up to his face. “Really just wanted to talk for a bit, if you’ve got the time. Just for a little while.” 

_“It would be my pleasure,”_ Ignis replied, and Prompto could hear the small smile in his voice. _“What would you like to talk about?”_

 _How grateful I am to you,_ Prompto thought to himself, _for everything you did for me. How once you started believing in me, you never stopped, even when I made it hard. How you gave me a chance in the first place, back when no one wanted to._

Instead, he said, “You remember those little tarts you made that one time I was over at Noct’s place, back when we were in high school? The fruit tarts, the ones that tasted kinda sour?” 

_“I believe I know the ones, yes.”_

“You gotta tell me, dude— what was in them? Like, what fruit? I totally forgot to ask at the time, because they were so damn good, but I’ve been trying to figure it out ever since.”

There was another pause, before Ignis spoke again. _“The fruit was yuzu, I believe.”_

“Huh,” Prompto said, trying to tune out the terrible noises outside that were definitely louder than before. “This feels… weird. I always had “Iggy’s fruit tarts” up there as one of life’s great mysteries, ’cause it was never important enough that I remembered to ask you, and you never made ’em again. Figured it would always be one of those things I just wonder about from time to time, y’know?” Prompto hummed thoughtfully, moving a pebble with the tip of his shoe. “They really were good, though.” 

Ignis chuckled quietly, which always felt like a win to Prompto. _“If I’d known this tormented you as much as it did, I would have told you long ago. They’re quite easy to make, actually; Would you like me to make you some, next time you find yourself in Lestallum?”_

“That’d be real nice, Iggy,” Prompto said softly, smiling. A sudden clawing at the door made him remember where he was, and he nearly dropped his phone. 

“I, uh, I gotta go,” Prompto muttered, clearing his throat. “Thanks for chatting with me. Wish we could’ve talked a little while longer.” 

_“Already?”_ Ignis said, and his disappointment almost made Prompto reconsider, but Ignis really didn’t need to hear what was going to happen next. _“Well, I understand that you are busy. Please remember, you may call me anytime you wish, Prompto. Let’s talk again soon, alright?”_

Prompto swallowed, looking down at the floor. “Alright, Iggy. We’ll talk soon.” The words were bitter on his tongue as he ended the call, but he couldn’t find it in himself to tell Ignis that it would be their last conversation. 

The clawing grew louder, accompanied now by the sound of something large slamming against the wall, and Prompto knew his time was about up. Despite it all, a strange sense of calm overtook him as he pulled up his text chain with Noct. He would have left him a voicemail, but the Prince’s box was long since full. Instead, he tapped out a few final messages as the flimsy door began to splinter.

_hey, so_

_the apocalypse sucks. cant even play KK_

_also im about to get torn up by demons but honestly id still say that’s not as bad as losing my high scores_

_anyways. just wanted to say sorry that im not gonna be able to welcome you back when you finish whatever youre doing in that rock_

_i miss you a lot noct. i hope you come back soon. even if i dont get to see you_

_seeya, dude_

**Author's Note:**

> [posts this at 4am cause iunno how I feel abt it]
> 
> weirdly I rarely read WoR fics (cause they make me too sad) so kinda strange that the first ffxv fic I write would be one??? anyways Ive been playin ffxv again for like the third time and my love for it has once again been rekindled so I actually wanna write some shit for it. hopefully some stuff better’n this 
> 
> titular song is Take Me Down Easy by James Henry Jr., real good tune


End file.
